IUCN Status: Near Threatened
EPBC Threat Rating: Moderate
IUCN Claim: “The current major threats to the natural populations of the species include: the accidental introduction of predators (introduced cats and foxes)’”
The number of bounties paid for Bettongia spp. declined around the same time that fox bounties increased in New South Wales, but it is not known whether bounties reflect abundance and which species were hunted (Short 1998). A group of 66 predator-inexperienced bettongs were eliminated from a section of a fenced reserve shortly after a fox breached the fence (Moseby et al. 2019). Foxes were the main predators of predator-inexperienced reintroduced bettongs (Short & Turner 2000). Bettongs were last confirmed in Western Australia 9-16 years after foxes arrived (Wallach et al. 202X).
Bettongs were last confirmed in NSW, QLD and Victoria 11-22 years before foxes arrived (Wallach et al. 202X). Foxes were not listed among predators of reintroduced bettongs (Christensen & Burrows 1995).
There are no studies evidencing a negative association between foxes
and burrowing bettong populations. Bounties are not a reliable proxy for
abundance (particularly when the species is unidentified); and the fate
of reintroduced animals is not a proxy for the fate of populations. In
contradiction with claim, most bettong extirpation records pre-date fox
arrival records.
Christensen, P., and N. Burrows. “Project desert dreaming: experimental reintroduction of mammals to the Gibson Desert, Western Australia.” Reintroduction Biology of Australian and New Zealand Fauna’.(Ed. M. Serena.) pp (1995): 199-207.
Fairfax, Dispersal of the introduced red fox (Vulpes vulpes) across Australia. Biol. Invasions 21, 1259-1268 (2019).
Moseby, Katherine E., et al. “Understanding predator densities for successful co‐existence of alien predators and threatened prey.” Austral Ecology 44.3 (2019): 409-419.
Short, J. 1998. The extinction of rat-kangaroos (Marsupialia: Potoroidae) in New South Wales, Australia. Biological Conservation 86: 365-377.
Short, Jeff, and Bruce Turner. “Reintroduction of the burrowing bettong Bettongia lesueur (Marsupialia: Potoroidae) to mainland Australia.” Biological Conservation 96.2 (2000): 185-196.
Wallach et al. 2023 In Submission